


birthday pancakes

by kayytx



Series: ironhusbands bingo [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Fluff, Gen, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark at MIT, M/M, MIT Era, Rhodey Birthday Celebration Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 23:43:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20920595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayytx/pseuds/kayytx
Summary: It kinda sucks when your birthday happens to be in the middle of midterms season, but luckily Rhodey's got an amazing best friend to make up for it.





	birthday pancakes

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday to the only man that matters, colonel james "rhodey" rupert rhodes!! this got my gears turning and i wrote this as a fill for the **MIT era** square on my bingo card :))

For the first time since midterms started, Jim was able to get in more than six hours of uninterrupted sleep. It had been a rough week -- all his exams were scheduled for early in the season so he had three of them back to back, and in between all the studying, he had two papers he needed to finish research for and some lab results to write up before they were due in a few days. When he wasn’t in class, Jim had practically lived in the library for the last two and a half weeks and it was nice to finally get to spend some quality time in his own bed back at the dorms.

So Jim would really appreciate it right now if Tony could please take the hint and stop shoving at his shoulder to try and wake him up.

“Rhodey. Rhodey. RhodeyRhodeyRhodeyRhodey. Jimbo. Wake up, platypus. Rhodeeeeey."

A little miffed at having to concede defeat and say goodbye to his dreams, Jim throws his comforter back and sits upright. “What? I’m getting a full night’s rest for the first time in weeks, man. I was dreaming of a vacation in _Greece_.” He rubs at his eyes, trying to get them to open fully.

“I can take you to Greece this summer. But right now this is more important. Happy birthday, honeybear!!"

After rapidly blinking a bit more and his vision clears up, the first thing Jim registers is his best friend standing in front of him with bright eyes and a soft smile, looking infinitely proud of himself for whatever it is he had planned for Jim’s birthday.

And, admittedly, what Tony has planned looks great. He turns to the desk and grabs a tray with an amazing spread to present to Jim. It’s filled to the brim with everything Jim loves -- good old orange juice and coffee, bacon, eggs benedict, mini croissants, and best of all, pancakes. Pancakes stacked at least six inches high, surrounded by strawberries and blueberries, with a single lit candle stuck in the middle of the topmost layer.

A smile breaks out across Jim’s face. “Wow, Tones. All this just for me?”

“Duh, who else would I do this for?" Tony asks, as if the idea that he'd go to all this effort for anyone else is just preposterous. "Now make a wish!”

After Jim closes his eyes and blows out the candle, Tony puts the tray back on the desk and drags it over to the bed. Jim shifts so he’s facing the table and Tony plops down next to him.

“Go on,” Tony says. “Dig in."

Jim hesitates. “You’re not gonna, like, just sit there and watch me eat, right? You’re eating some of this too.”

It takes a bit of wheedling, and Tony keeps saying that it’s Jim’s special day and this meal is just for him, but eventually Jim convinces Tony that there’s no possible way he can finish all of that food and manages to shove a bacon in his mouth mid-argument. After that, Tony admits he’s kind of sort of really hungry too and starts shamelessly eating the pancakes that Jim had cut up while they were bickering. Not that Jim minds.

When only tiny flakes from the croissant and smears of hollandaise sauce are all that’s left on the plates, they both slump against the wall, too stuffed to even think about cleaning up. Even though it was just crappy food from their cafeteria, it was one of the best meals Jim has ever had in his life.

He turns to his best friend. “You know, I could have just gone down to the cafeteria with you. You didn’t have to bring all of this up here.”

Tony rests his head against Jim’s shoulder and gives a light shrug. “You had a long week. I figured you deserved some breakfast in bed instead of standing in line with everyone else to wait for your food,” he says. “Plus, I needed to beat the morning rush because you know otherwise Janine would never have been willing to make twenty pancakes just for one student.”

“Well, all of this was delicious,” Jim says as he gently knocks their heads together. “Thank you, Tones. You’ve already made my birthday pretty amazing.”

“And the day’s just started!” Tony exclaims, hopping off the bed. He picks up the tray and nudges the desk back into place with his hips. “I still have a lot planned for you! Take a nap, or go for your morning workout if you feel like torturing yourself, I guess. But I’m going to bring this back downstairs and let you have some time for yourself, and later we’re going out and I’m treating you to the best day ever.”

“Alright.” Jim yawns and snuggles into his pillow, smiling as his eyes droop closed. “Can’t wait.”

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr post [here](https://robertdowneyjjr.tumblr.com/post/188169056902) :)


End file.
